Archive for March, 2010

There are 86 work days between tomorrow and July 22nd. For this exercise, July 22nd is the latest PC would send an invite (6 weeks ahead of early Sept).

Tomorrow there is a 1/86 chance that I’ll get invited, or 1.16%. That is slightly higher than the chances of being born as a twin in North America (1.11%).

Wednesday there is a 1/85 chance I’ll get invited, or 1.18%.

On my birthday there is a 1/65 chance I’ll get invited, or 1.54%.

On June 10th there is a 1/30 chance I’ll get invited, or 3.33%. That is slightly lower than the chances of getting hemorrhoids (4%).

These odds assume all days are created equal. My guess is that the May-June time frame is the most likely area. So if there are 86 days left, tomorrow’s chance dips down to maybe .5% while some of the days in May and June get bumped up to 3 or 4%.

Peace Corps has an increasing presence in my thoughts as my nomination date grows closer. It’s like a dense fog in my life. You’re not too sure what lies up ahead around the bend, but you can feel the water in the air everywhere you go.

Lately I’ve been reading applicant blogs on the Peace Corps Journals website. I’ve also been prowling the Yahoo PC group to get insight on what others are experiencing. A lot of the April/May invitations are going out right now. Last week someone got a July invite too. That means maybe September will be popping up in another month or so (at least I hope).

There is always the chance I could get bumped up, so I have decided to start getting some things done here that I need to do before leaving. Today I ordered a laptop. My 2004 Dell desktop will not be making the trip for obvious reasons. Plus it has officially become outdated. Actually, it has probably been outdated for several years, but it seemed fine to me! I also put my electric guitar equipment up for sale on Craigslist. I have quite a few other items that could be sold too. Plus, I need to get rid of a lot of clothing. All those t-shirts I wore my whole life, as much as I hate to admit it, do not get a whole lot of use now that I am a corporate robot.

I think other people are also cognizant of the approaching deadline. Or at least they are confused why I am still here. The number of questions I get about PC might be at an all time high.

I am thankful that it is already late March. The winter doldrums are behind us. Now, everyday when I come home from work I check my phone just to make sure I don’t have a special voicemail that will change my life. Finally being in the window of receiving an invitation has brought a lot of hope and excitement into my life.

Over the weekend I had the privilege of visiting my sister in Colorado. It was my first time stepping foot in the state, and it lived up to expectations.
Colorado observations:
-Middle aged men all have beards
-The state flag is everywhere (they use it on all route markers)
-Angled pallets are everywhere (I later learned these are snow blocks)
-I know nothing about living in/near mountains

I was lucky because I got to see the rural side of Colorado and the urban side. My journey took advantage of all means of transportation that have been invented, except a boat. I took the Metrolink from my apartment to Lambert in STL, which saved around $40 in parking. Southwest flew me in to Denver International. From there RTD’s bus dropped me off near the sis. She picked me up; we were on our way.

We traveled to Buena Vista, which is roughly 2 hours southwest of Denver. Had I taken Spanish, I would have anticipated the awesome 360 degree view of mountains from the quaint town. We stayed in her boyfriend’s parents’ mountain home, which is stunning. Outside the 20 foot high windows of the great room loomed Mt. Princeton among other “14ers” (elevation +14000 feet – I had no idea what it meant before I got there).

We skiied at Monarch, my first mountain skiing experience and second overall skiing experience. I was able to handle all the greens, but I instantly lost control on the blue I attempted. Luckily I fell right before I would have inadvertently flown onto a black mogul run. Surely I would have had some medical restrictions to report to the PC if I made my way onto that trail!

Other attractions included the REI flagship store, a driving tour of all major sports stadiums, Mrs. E’s cooking, the Tattered Corner bookstore, Lime, and amazing whole wheat blueberry muffins.

It was a short trip but a good one. The best line of the weekend came at the very end, while Kelsey and I made the epic drive to the Denver airport (they might as well have put it in Kansas).

Regarding the bright blue bronco statue with glowing red eyes:
“I get that we’re the broncos, and our colors are red and blue, but you don’t have to put it altogether at once!” That might not read funnily, but the way Kelsey said it with her arms waving cracked me up.

PS – We drove through the real South Park! It’s really an area, but the town of Fairplay had South Park Bowling Alley, South Park Cathedral, etc. Pretty cool, mkay?